


Flight School

by blistry



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Cuddling, DameRey, F/M, Fluff, JediPilot, Quips, cute space date, quips everywhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-11 18:59:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13530561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blistry/pseuds/blistry
Summary: Poe uses highly unconventional methods to teach Rey some tricky flight maneuvers.





	Flight School

**Author's Note:**

> so yeah little bit about this fic it's a nonsense fever dream of cuddling and space ww2 so
> 
> ya sorry anyway enjoy the spotty punctuation

“Absolutely not,” Rey said, scandalized, trying to keep her voice down in the nearly empty hangar.

“Not with that attitude,” Poe replied, raising his eyebrows and giving her his winningest smile.

They stood on the boarding scaffolding next to his X-Wing, Rey with her arms very deliberately crossed.

“Not with any attitude-”

“You _said_ you wanted to learn some flight maneuvers in an X-Wing.”

“This is just not what I imagined,” she replied, placing a hand on her cheek, fixating her stare into the cozy cockpit of his starfighter.

“C’mon, just trust me,” Poe soothed, taking her worrying hand and running the pad of his thumb over her knuckles. Then, with that infuriating shine in his eyes, he smiled. “I do this for all my new recruits.”

The starfighter pilot had only to quirk the subtle corner of his mouth and she was swept away with whatever reckless plan he had in store for them. She couldn’t ignore the call of excitement and mischief. The allure of something dangerous which also possessed irresistible distraction.

He knew that. He knew that they were the same. And with that, Rey caved, her heart-racing.

“There’s not enough room,” she declared, tilting her chin up at him. Rey had spent too long bartering over junk to not be well-versed in the language of negotiation, and she didn’t want Poe to know she was an eager buyer, so she played coy.

The pilot nodded, knowingly.

“Here,” he said. She took his flight helmet from him, enjoying the familiar weight of it in her hands. Then, she watched as he knelt over the cockpit, bracing himself with one hand on the edge of it as the other dug around in the interior of the X-Wing. An unpleasant grinding rang out and Rey frowned.

Poe turned around, beaming with pride. His face fell, of course, when he saw hers.

“What?”

“Of course,” She said, flicking her free hand up in a fit of incredulity. She even laughed once before reverting back to irritated astonishment. “Of course, the seat in Poe Dameron’s X-Wing goes all the way back.”

Poe had obviously made some very specific modifications for his starfighter, most likely with BB-8’s cooperation. By relocating, Rey assumed, some important internal equipment, they had managed an extra seven inches of clearance for his seat to move back and forth.

“It’s not like that,” he said, looking momentarily dismayed, “I like to be able to stretch my legs.”

He demonstrated for her by skillfully dropping himself into the cockpit. He sat as far back in his seat as he could, which left Rey with just enough of the edge upon which to perch herself. Poe watched her expectantly for a moment before patting his thighs.

For her pride's sake, Rey tried her hardest to look annoyed for a moment before scanning, sharp-eyed, left and right over her shoulders. She didn’t need her peers who worked this hangar to see what she was about to do. Poe caught his helmet when she handed it off to him. Then, she took his raised, waiting hand and let him guide her slowly into his lap, giggling and trading gibes with one another at every misstep.

“Hold on, hold on,” he said, straining as he steadied her.

“No, _you_ hold on, I’m going to fall.”

“You’re just putting a lot of weight onto my thigh. Doesn’t exactly tickle.”

“Well, this was your stupid- oh, wait, here we go,” she carefully let herself settle comfortably against Poe. He groaned, clearly grateful to have her weight a little more evenly distributed.

Rey was blushing almost as soon as she sat down. She could smell him too. Grease and the spiced, sweet smell of whatever he used to wash his hair. Poe was also very warm and welcoming to lean against in tight space. And it was a tight space, make no mistake. His legs could just fit around hers and down into the pedal wells.

“See?” He said, sounding so confident yet so out of breath. “I knew we would fit.” 

“From past experience?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. BB-8 and I do this every weekend.” His words tickled the back of her neck as he reached in front of her to drop the viewport and seal the cockpit. It was quiet after it finally shut. Rey spoke to distract her nerves.

“Can your feet even reach the pedals? Mine can’t.”

“Uh, yeah. Pretty much.”

“ _Pretty much?_ ” Rey scoffed. “This is definitely violating _Safety Protocols and Practices for a Healthier Hangar Bay_.” She quoted the title of one of the many memos that had passed through her hands during her time volunteering as a mechanic for the rebellion.

“I don’t like to go too long without breaking a rule or two. Keep the other officers on their toes.” Poe joked but Rey wasn’t buying it. “This’ll be fun. It’s me we’re talking about. _The_ _best pilot in the galaxy,_ right?” He said, making a small mockery of his reputation.

Rey turned her head to the right to catch his eye and smiled.

“Enjoy that title while you can, flyboy,” she said, grabbing the flightstick.

“Slow down, recruit, safety first." Poe moved to pull the harness over them both. She opened her mouth to mention that it was, indeed, very _unsafe_ to wear a harness intended for only one person this way, but thought better of it. What would be the point of arguing at this juncture? Besides, after he tightened up the straps, it was snug enough to satisfy her.

“Uh oh,” he said into her shoulder as he buckled the harness in front of her, “this _might_ be a distraction.”

She started to laugh but admonished herself straight away. Poe was never to be encouraged, and Rey didn’t like to let him know how much he amused her. He wound his arms around her and squeezed her tight from behind. She was warm from her heart all the way to the tips of her fingers. How she loved receiving affection from her pilot, whenever she would be still enough to let him give it.

“These are not the maneuvers I am meant to be learning,” she protested, determined to be difficult.

“It’s an open lesson plan.” He nuzzled the curve where her slender neck met her shoulder.

“ _Poe_.”

“What?” He said, acting innocent as he let his fingers roam up and down the skin of her arms. “Not my fault. You shouldn’t be allowed to be this _soft_.”

She wasn’t making any headway with him, as he helped himself to a cuddle, so she was going to start up the engine herself. Sure, she’d never been inside a rebel X-Wing before, but she had a scavenger’s eyes and intuition.

He hummed in her ear, resting his chin on her shoulder, his arms wrapped comfortably around her middle-parts.

“Y’smell good too,” he said, lazily and completely content. His stubble bit at her skin but she never minded. “Smell like apples or somethin’.” Poe often became incoherent when he started touching her.

“You’re an awful teacher,” she said, idly, as she identified the fuel starter switch, flipping it. The starfighter shivered to life beneath them. He chuckled.

“Good.” He lifted a finger to point to the temperature dial. She watched it as it ticked slowly upward. Poe sighed behind her, like a bear ready for hibernation.

“Better not fall asleep back there.”

“Can’t promise I won’t,” he mumbled.

“Don’t worry,” she sweetly said, flicking the main power switch when the dial reached the right temperature. The starfighter roared now. Monitors flickered to life. An orange glow was cast across her cheeks. “You won’t.”

“I love a quick study,” he said, straightening up.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Rey replied as she kicked on the thrusters and retracted the landing gear.

Artfully, she exited the hangar. She’d never handled a craft that was so agile and responsive. Under the cover of night, she and Poe spent an hour and a half, squabbling and giggling, trying to figure out how to pull off complex flight maneuvers while they each controlled two halves of the starfighter. Rey, the stick and throttle. Poe, the pedals.

After they had given up, they sat, adrift in space, watching the sunrise from orbit.

“You know,” he said, after a long silence, “I love how you think I’m some kinda ladykiller.” His arms were still wrapped around her, only they had both leaned back in the cockpit, now that they weren’t piloting.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“Like with the seat,” he went on, “and asking me if I had ‘prior experience’.”

“I didn’t mean-”

He shushed her softly and took her right hand, which had been resting on the throttle, and kissed her gently curling fingers.

“Truth is, you’re the only one- That is, uh, I wouldn’t want it to be anyone else up here, like this.” Her heart jumped and and the fantastic feeling of being adored overwhelmed her. “Not anyone but you.”

Rey had a feeling that if she turned around he would have that precious, concerned look on his face. Flexing his jaw, brow all stormy and conflicted. And, of course, she believed him. If she were honest, a tiny, annoying part of her had been a little jealous, so it meant a great deal to her, what Poe said.

She didn’t know what to say to express her gratitude or fullness of emotion, so she simply took up his hand, like he had done hers, and kissed it too. They were silent and happy for a long time. Finally, when enough time had passed, Poe spoke.

“My ass hurts, though, like, _seriously_ _bad_.”

“Mine too. Let’s never do this again.”

**Author's Note:**

> damerey, for me, feels like that girl who is always saying 'omg my bf is so stupid' but she cant not smile when she says it because obvs she loves him and his antics
> 
> anyway hmu: https://blistrysmysteries.tumblr.com/


End file.
